The prior art discloses a number of solutions by means of which a rotor of a centrifuge can be mounted firmly on a drive shaft. For example, it is known to press the rotor onto a conical seat of a drive shaft with a screw thread.
Self locking attachments are also known, for example, from EP 0 911 080 A1. However, the described system is suitable only for specific rotor types that do not generate any forces (for example, buoyancy forces) contrary to the coupling direction.
DE 10 2008 045 556 A1 develops the concept of EP 0 911 080 A1 and uses swiveling coupling elements for locking, which produce a self-locking effect already in an idle state of the rotor due to inclined friction surfaces, so that unintended axial unlocking is prevented. In case of very high rotational speeds, however, the rotor may get jammed due to the high centrifugal forces, and the coupling cannot always be easily released.
DE 10 2012 011 531 A1 discloses a versatile system suitable for mounting a great variety of different rotors on a drive head in a self-locking manner. The drive head has various types of coupling elements, which swivel into associated recesses in the rotor either separately or in combination with each other depending on the respective rotor to be connected. The self-locking is achieved by appropriate arrangement of sloped ramp faces on the coupling elements and the rotor. In terms of manufacturing, this is relatively expensive.